Breaking Breaker Bars How strong ICON vs Pittsburgh vs GearWrench and More 

Really surprising results from the GearWrench breaker bar, what are your thoughts?

That Pittsburgh pro series makes me glad i went with that one.

A 3/8ths breaker bar is absolutely pointless just like a 1/4" is pointless. You only need a 1/2" breaker bar. Never in my career have i said god i wish i had a 3/8ths breaker bar. If you have to put that much force youre using the wrong tool for the job and shouldn't be working on shit

I'd have done 2 things different in the review. First I would have put a new anvil on your personal Gearwrench bar, just to eliminate any stress damage from the use over time. It may have done better than it did. Second I would have included the purchase price for each bar to see which is the best overall value. Otherwise, great comparison between the bars.

As I recall from the ratchet video, none of these did tremendously better than the ratchets. So a breaker bar just saves wear and tear on a ratchet. Makes sense since most of the ratchets failed at the anvil and I doubt breaker bars use different anvils. Of course, the fanboys will point out that you left out Snap-On because you didn't want to embarrass all the lesser brands. Everybody knows Snap-On's magic steel would have broken the gauge or possibly caused a wobble in Earth's rotation before breaking. *salt off*

That duralast is pretty impressive concidering how short it is. It would last a lifetime as long as you didn't put a bar on it.

Wow! Biggest winner in my opinion is Pittsburgh pro. I cant believe how well it did against gearwrench. Icon did the best but it's also more expensive than the Pittsburgh pro, not worth the price difference given the cost. Thank you for the great video. I wonder how the snap-on would have done... I suspect better than Icon but not sure by how much.

I want to see you warranty the breaker bars now. I want to see the warranty process for the Gearwrench specifically. I've heard horror stories about their warranty process. Thanks for the videos!

The ICON won, but it’s $50 vs the $20 for the Pittsburgh Pro. To me, for my money it’s Pittsburgh Pro for the win.

Thanks for the product testing and video. Avoiding cash in the trash is my goal. After going to 2 stores, I finally purchased 2 Icon breaker bars. The Icon 3/8" x 12" and the 1/2" x 18" both without the comfort grip. The Icon pivot parts are tight. After reading reviews I might order the Milwaukee 18" and 24" breaker bar set for store pick up to compare both.

If you are really torquing shit down, you’re gonna want the 1/2. A 1/2 has 1.7x the surface area of a 3/8 if all dimension are proportional. So a 1/2 can probably do about 2x better than a 3/8 can. It’s weird to think that such a small jump in size will lead to much greater results.

That Duralast at 232 is pretty impressive. I think the Icon is a hard sell considering how proven the Pittsburgh Pro brand is. I couldn’t justify 2X+ the cost for the Icon breaker bar. I am definitely excited about Icon being a quality tool on the market but the price point doesn’t line up with the competition. Gearwrench is pretty much the go to standard for Taiwan tool quality and anything else offered in the market has to compete with them cost wise. I will not spend more money to have Icon over Tekton, Gearwrench, Capri, Carlyle, Duralast or any of the other already proven Taiwan tools already flooding the market. HF needs to realize no matter how close in quality they get to Snap-on, they will never be a direct competitor. Snap-on is a very niche market that preys on a certain type of consumer. And those consumers could care less about a HF tool claiming equal quality. I’ve never been sold on Snap-on being the end all be all in the tool world but I do respect the fact that they dominated that opinion of the tool world for almost a century. Great video CG👍🏻

Been loving our 1/2'' Pittsburgh and its more than capable of handling any job a back yarder can ask of it, good quality and a good price.

whats everyones thoughts on the pittsburgh pro going 277 and the icon only going 279 yet the icon costs $20 more? icon is supposed to be superior, yet barely outperformed. not worth the money unless you really want that comfort grip right?

would be good to see how much more strength the 1/2 and 3/4 drive adds to all of the brands. can't really get super meaningful info with a single tool but still interesting.

I have the Pittsburgh Pro. So looks like that was a good choice as well.

Great video. Nice seeing all of their failure points and at how many lb-ft they failed at.

Constructive criticism: The framing of the shot could be a little higher so we can see the main point of the video better, which is the breaker bar

Nice review. I've yet to break a 1/2 drive Pittsburgh pro but they do flex a lot. Enough that I hit obstacles in real tight situations when chucked to 6 point sockets. Especially with suspension. I am curious to know how much the Icon 1/2 drive flexes in comparison.

I love the destructive test you do, Chris. Thank You for another awesome video.

The 3/8 isn't much better than ratchets. I have HF breaker bars but the 1\2 and 3/4

If there’s one thing this video sold me on it would be the old chrome sk sockets.

Daily ?? You don't work as a Mechanic. 🙄

So we learned that icon is not worth the money over the Pittsburg am I not correct? Starting to learn the price is more about convenience of warranty not quality

The Gearwrench surprised me, I've got several Gearwrench, Craftaman, AM Pro. But I never imagined Pittsburgh would outshine them

The open end ratchet went to 330 lbs- ft (?) WtH. What tool would I use if I were to replace the balancer on a Corvette , with an ARP bolt which calls for 250. I torque my wheels at 100. These breaker bars are seemingly not that impressive 🤷‍♂️ Awesome videos (Use that Harbor Fright warranty)

3/8" drive is a little light to be using on 19 mm. wrenching size I have an S*K 1/2" drive one that is only 9 and 1/2" long! Great for tight places

This one was impressive. Pittsburgh and ICON for the win. Trying some other 3/8s bars?

Best part is the all have lifetime warranties, so he can replace them all free

Going to take a wild guess and say the gearwrench being used had something to do with it

My shorter 1/2" craftsman broke but my Pittsburgh pro got the nut off. I believe it's because the craftsman didnt flex to give it relief like the Pitt did. The craftsman was also 1ft vs the 2ft pitt

Well damn, we're only half the money I am more impressed by the Pittsburgh than I am the icon, the icon only took another eight foot pounds before letting go and for half the money I think I would go with the Pittsburgh

So My local Christian Brothers Auto near Pearland TX torqued my Tahoe lugs to 250+ ft-lb. I snapped my Pittsburgh 3/8 …… impact took 20 sec to take off ea lug nut.

I am curious if the additional pulls to 200 placed some stress on the Icon? And if it would have gone even higher before failure without the extra pulls.?

It is pretty obvious that the main limiting factor of the breaker bar is the cross sectional area of the 3/8th inch drive portion. Which is why they all fail right around 230. Likely it isn't possible to get much higher using the common durable metals which tools like these are made from. Of course, the icon and the Pittsburgh got well above 230, and must be made from better materials. You get what you pay for I assume.

Yes I have the Pittsburgh breaker bar holding up after couple years. Still going strong

So basically you aren't going to break any of these with normal use. Good to know!

My dad’s breaker bars were also extensions and he used them often and now so do I. Very handy feature when you need it and I don’t know why more manufacturers don’t have them.

Damn, I'm impressed with the dang socket not breaking lol!!😅

So to remove lug nuts on a semi, I guess I would need a 3-ft bar? The torque on those suckers is about 475-500 ft-lbs.

What do you do with all the tools that you break?

Love the vid! Just to be pedantic, it's "lb-ft"! (Yes, I know it's mislabeled everywhere.)

i never use a cheater pipe, but a 3lbs hammer. how much force would that be?

Excused me is there any part of an engine that it need over 200 foot pounds of torque? I Like your review thanks.

I have never used a 3/8 breaker bar in 30 years. I always use my 1/2 bar. My 3/8 is a dust collector.

That is why the old Crapsmam bars had a flat profile. 🙄

A breaker bar is a very basic tool like an anvil or a hammer clearly paying big bucks for a "name brand" breaker bar is a waste of money.

I broke a duralast 1/2" breaker bar loosening lug nuts on my car at home

Completely no point to spend extra for Icon...Pittsburgh pro is almost the same.

I broke a Craftsman breaker bar before, Definitely was only maybe 100 ftlbs

It's crazy that a lot of ratchets went higher

used a cheater extension to break it when I don't need any extra bars !!! they will go higher if preheated the end !!!

That's not a fair test as the breaker bars are different lengths and only a dumb hoopie would put a cheater bar on a breaker bar.

Not an accurate test. The breaker bars are all different lengths. And rated for different tourqe

They are all different sizes. Duh you’ll get different results lol

Hey man I know it’s late to jump in, but how much torque would a 1/2 breaker take? I also wanted to know how much torque do sockets normally handle. Thanks bro

That duralast suprised me a lot

Why don’t you put icon vs snap on challenge together. REAL TEST

Do you have a comparison of 1/2" Drive breaker bars? Would like to see comparison between Tekton, Gear Wrench, ICON, Pittsburgh/Pittsburgh Pro, Craftsman, Husky, Snap On, etc. Also 1/2" Drive ratchets torture test. -Rob

is this test even fair? they all hav different lengths and thickness

Hey buddy, can I borrow your breaker bar? Thanks.

breaker bar or ratchets brake almost on same torque ... so breaker bar looks useless if you have an extensible ratchet... am I wrong?

I have a 30" sk and love it.

As you said, nobody is going to put that much torque on a 3/8" breaker bar without a cheater. With that said, no matter how many of these videos that I watch, breaker bars or flex ratchets, it blows my mind that they don't break at the joint!

you should've tested a tekton BB

I just want a breaker bar that you dont have to swing 45 degrees to get the nut/ bolt to move an 1/8 th of an inch!

Have Duralast 24" flex ratchet and have stomped lug nuts off many times with it and the breaker bar is just as good . Gear wrench is just as awesome the rest I wouldn't bother with . No comparison !

I broke a 3/8 drive 17 inch braker bar from Harbor Freight trying to take a lug nut off of my truck that was over tightened. I broke half the head. So i took it back and picked up a 1/2 drive 25 inch bar form HF and the lug nut came right off.

You need to do a 1/2 ratchet and breaker bar test those prolly can go over 500 ft lbs

Just click 10:17 to get right down to it.

I wish these were in 1/2" comparison, honestly I've never needed a 3/8" breaker bar. Seems a little useless as a breaker but to each their own

AND the winner is.... the socket !

Your bringing the tool beyond its limits! If you need to get into those kind of foot pounds then it's time to get into 3/4 drive. Not a good comparison and your not using these tools as recommended!

they need to make a breaker bar that don't break

what is a model of dynamo adapter ?

not really a fair test given the various length in the breaker bars. That duralast would have probably won if it was the exact size as the largest bar.

Anyone have an idea what bolt break at? I'm guessing most small and medium bolts will break first.

I wished they made breaker bars with hog rings on the anvil so that instead of it having a little spring and bar inside the anvil which makes the anvil weaker than with a solid anvil and a hog ring on it that hold the sockets in place onstead of a detent ball.

Once again, performance to price ratio on the Pittsburgh professional compared to the icon, just is not worth spending the extra money on the icon especially considering the harbor freight professional they will warrantee out right at the store.

not being from the states and moving over some time early next year this very interesting . for when i am buying some new tools

I been using the chrome vanadium one from harbor freight for 6 years on helicopters. Im surprised its still good.

Excellent video, I came here to see how strong breaker bars are. All we had was a tekton 3/8 breaker bar from the 3/8 blow mold kit to change a rear flat on a DRW f350. The 3/8 breaker bar did the job but it was spooky how much it flexed. I thought for sure it was a goner. Next time I'm packing the 3/8 and the 1/2 kit! Maybe buying the 40" 3/4 tekton bar just for fin

What socket was u using

Just like AvE test the Pittsburgh is best for the price even vs snap on and mac

So Milwaukee ratchet did better than breaker bars ? (it did 300)

Watching people break stuff on RU-vid is always entertaining, but that's exactly what it is...entertainment. This is not science. For a test like this to be scientific, a statistically relevant sample would be required. For starts, you'd have to break dozens of each model to get any real data.

I broke my pittsburgh on an S10 axle nut. But standing on a 5 foot cheater bar will do that. Bought my first 1/2 in impact after that.

Any time you need a cheater bar it's time you go up in drive size

I would definitely use the socket in the back of the breaker bar.

The 3/8 drive in the bottom of the oreilly breaker bar is to stick long extensions in and get more leverage on it fast

"So we'll take this up to 100 foot pounds. Now we'll go ahead and take this to 150."

no tekton??

Nice head to head comparison

This is a really interesting and helpful video! Thanks for making it!!! 🙂🙂🙂

Brute force!

I love watching Pittsburgh outperform "better" brands!!!

You should try this with the tekton breaker bar

How about snap-on breakerbar bro?

Chrisfix has left the chat room*

The gear wrench had a unfair test is you have used it for 4 years against a brand new tool that has never been stressed before.